Swans Brewpub
• 506 Pandora Ave | Victoria, BC | V8W 1N6
Average User Rating:
7.90/10
7.90/10
Recommended by:
71%
71%
Sort Reviews by:
"BEST BURGER"
Carol
March 2012 — "Victoria has a wonderful four day celebration at the beginning of March for the local residents called "Tourist in your own hometown". Purchase a pamphlet filled with free coupons and specials at most tourist locations and some restaurants. After enjoying so many of the cities unique tourist attractions we decided on a late lunch at the Swan Brewpub. A perfect location and excellent pub, in a 100 year old building facing the Johnson St. bridge. The pub area is filled with wooden tables, large windows, and an outdoor covered atrium, for seating closer to the views. The beer menu is extensive, most beers brewed inhouse, the food menu is typical pub fare. The pubs' offering for the hometown crowd was 50% off their Two Rivers burger with fries. We found a table, and were promptly approached by our waitress with menu's in hand and a booklet of inhouse brews. We both tried the Brown Ale 1/2 pint and ordered the burger special. We noticed many patrons ordering the six/eight sample pack. A great way to taste many of the pubs special creations. Our beer arrived swiftly, the burgers not far behind. What a treat. Piled on a whole wheat kiaser bun was a freshly made 6oz. beef patty; advertised as organic beef, back bacon, onions, mushrooms, melted cheddar cheese, huge pickles, and romaine lettuce completed the ensemble. It was heaven. And the fries were excellent as well. Far to much for me to complete, so I removed most of the bun and enjoyed the main ingredients. The burger was one of the best either of us has enjoyed. That evening they also were offering a 3 course dinner for $20. and wine for $4. per glass. A must visit when in Victoria. "
User Rating
9.50/10
9.50/10
Ambience
••••••••••
Beverages
••••••••••
Cleanliness
••••••••••
Quality of Food
••••••••••
Staff Service
••••••••••
Value for Money
••••••••••
"Fun Pub!"
Sara
August 2010 — "Swans is a fun place to go when they’ve got a live band playing. They’re right downtown and have a large yet cosy atmosphere. They’re known for their award-winning beer that comes out of their own brewery. On this particular occasion, 5 of us decided to go to Swans for lunch and ended up getting a great window seat for people watching. I ordered the Brew House Club which consists of charbroiled chicken breast, lettuce, tomato and bacon, with a sauce on Swans own homemade foccacia bread. It came with fries and was a decent size club sandwich! I really enjoyed my meal as well as everyone else. The service was prompt and for $14, it did the trick. I really like the location and the layout of this pub and find the amount and quality of food fair for the price but my ideal time to go to Swans, is during a live band in the evening for drinks."
User Rating
8.50/10
8.50/10
Ambience
••••••••••
Beverages
••••••••••
Cleanliness
••••••••••
Quality of Food
••••••••••
Staff Service
••••••••••
Value for Money
••••••••••
"Blah Breakfast"
Chase
February 2010 — "I had breakfast here with my two sons not long ago, and I came away quite disappointed. Everything was average or below average (the worst was the dry, over-fried hash browns). Also, the restaurant still smelled like beer from the night before. Actually, come to think of it, there were a couple of men drinking beer already at the bar (it was 10am or so).
I'll probably go back to Swans, just not for breakfast -- unless, of course, I need a morning pint :-)"
User Rating
6/10
6/10
Ambience
••••••••••
Beverages
••••••••••
Cleanliness
••••••••••
Quality of Food
••••••••••
Staff Service
••••••••••
Value for Money
••••••••••
"Picture Perfect"
Gary
September 2009 — "This is a great pub and is situated below the Swans hotel on Pandora Avenue with a perfect view of the blue bridge. In the summer, the pub looks very picturesque with the many hanging flower baskets on the front of the building and from the balconies. The pub was busy when we arrived, it seems a popular place, but a server appeared and pushed a table together for us. The pub is roomy and has a glassed in patio which is very popular but we had a great table near the bar. I went for the Brew House Club which is a charbroiled chicken breast on focaccia bread and the rest of the menu looked very good as well, burgers, pizzas and a tasty sounding pulled pork sandwich. The food was great and plus it was washed down with some Swans locally brewed beer. The pub has a great atmosphere and there seemed to an equal split of tourists and locals in the pub. There is live music most evenings but we left as it was starting so will have to go back for that. One quirky thing, you need to get a code from the bar in order to use the washroom. It seems this is to discourage people coming in off the street and simply using the washroom."
User Rating
9.33/10
9.33/10
Ambience
••••••••••
Beverages
••••••••••
Cleanliness
••••••••••
Quality of Food
••••••••••
Staff Service
••••••••••
Value for Money
••••••••••
"Quite Trendy with Great Food"
Deb
March 2008 — "We planned this visit after hearing about Swans from friends who had been there. They raved about the many varieties of different beers including a raspberry beer, although we both chose wine instead of beer for this visit. This is a pub located near downtown Victoria on Pandora Street. It was easy to find but finding parking was a little difficult. We did find a spot in the pay parking lot across the street from the pub. We drank our wine (they have a good selection of BC wines as well as the usual Australian, US and French wines) at a nice table on the patio looking out over the Johnson Street Bridge. The menu was quite extensive and it took us both a little time to decide what we wanted to order. My friend settled on a salad with mandarin oranges and cashews and I had a chicken sandwich on ciabatta bread with chipolte sauce. Both of us enjoyed our meals. The pub was quite busy but sitting out on the patio - it is covered so you can sit there year round - we weren't bothered by the noise inside. The waitress said that although children are not permitted in the pub part of the restaurant, because of a bylaw error by the City, children are welcome to eat on the patio they just have to come in through the pub to get to a table. The menu definitely had things on it my children would love like fish and chips and chicken fingers. I would definitely go back." "
User Rating
8/10
8/10
Ambience
••••••••••
Beverages
••••••••••
Cleanliness
••••••••••
Quality of Food
••••••••••
Staff Service
••••••••••
Value for Money
••••••••••
"Great Food, Slow Service"Tara
September 2007 — "I just got back from Swan’s Pub located at the Swan’s Suite Hotel. It’s such a great old place with a great location. Since it’s located right downtown and there’s tons of windows there’s plenty of sightseeing to do while you wait for your food. And if it’s anything like tonight - you’ll be waiting a while. My husband and I simply wanted a couple of hamburgers and we were there for almost 2 hours! Everything was a long wait, from the amount of time it took to get our menus, our food, our dessert and our bill. It was excruciating. The waitress was pleasant enough, but passed by our table many times when we were in need of something (like refills, waiting for our food to be cleared and getting our bill). That would be my only complaint. My burger and fries were fantastic. I got the bacon cheeseburger and the bacon and cheese were grilled to perfection. The fries were really good too. And the serving was huge – big burger and tons of fries. For dessert we tried the chocolate fudge brownie, which was good, but not worth $6.50. If we had not had to wait so long it would have been a very pleasant dining experience. I even noticed a couple of kids there, so I guess it’s a family-friendly place too. I’d go back, but would hope for faster service next time."
User Rating
7.17/10
7.17/10
Ambience
••••••••••
Beverages
••••••••••
Cleanliness
••••••••••
Quality of Food
••••••••••
Staff Service
••••••••••
Value for Money
••••••••••
"Kind of disappointing"
Kelsey
July 2007 — "This pub looked so cute and cosy that we could not resist going in for a meal. A live band was playing and we sat out in the covered veranda. This is where the neat factor wore off...our waitress was nice enough but she did not take our drink order for about 10 minutes and we kept trying to flag her down but somehow she did not see us. Finally we managed to order and receive our meals. They were pretty mediocre...I had the Mediterranean Salad which was lacking pretty much everything but the cucumber! My husband had a burger which he said was not very good either. The place was packed so maybe the chef was having a bad night or something but we sure weren't impressed. "
User Rating
6.83/10
6.83/10
Ambience
••••••••••
Beverages
••••••••••
Cleanliness
••••••••••
Quality of Food
••••••••••
Staff Service
••••••••••
Value for Money
••••••••••
DescriptionThis Pub offers in-house brews, pub fare featuring fresh seafood, chicken and pasta dishes. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Location Information506 Pandora Ave
Victoria
BC
V8W 1N6
